Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer is a plant belonging to the family Araliaceae, the genus Panax, and is a herbal medicine which has been used from about 2,000 years ago in Korea, China, Japan and the like in order to prevent diseases and to extend life span. The effects of ginseng, known to date, include action on the central nervous system, anti-carcinogenic action, anticancer activity, immune function regulatory action, anti-diabetic action, liver function-improving action, cardiovascular disorder-relieving and anti-atherogenic actions, blood pressure-controlling action, alleviation of menopausal disorders and osteoporosis, anti-stress and anti-fatigue actions, antioxidant activity and aging inhibitory effects (Korean Ginseng, “components and effects”, the Korea Ginseng Research Institute, 56-112, 1996).
It is known that ginsenoside, which is the typical physiologically active component of ginseng, is uniformly distributed in the above-ground and underground parts of ginseng, and particularly the content and composition of ginsenoside vary depending on ginseng parts, including ginseng roots, ginseng leaves and ginseng berries (Attele A S et al, Biochem Pharmacol, 58; 1685-1693, 1999). Particularly, it was reported that the ginseng berries showed better effects than those of the ginseng roots due to the components and contents thereof different from the ginseng roots (Dey L. et al., Phytomedicine, 10; 600-605, 2003).
Recently, while the interest of consumers in natural cosmetic products has been increased, and many cosmetic products containing Chinese medicinal materials have been marketed, ginseng has also been studied as a plant material for cosmetics having important effects on the skin. However, most of such studies relate to the utilization of either extracts from ginseng roots or the ginsenosides and ginseng polysaccharides, there is no study on the effects of ginseng berry components on skin-aging inhibition and wrinkle reduction.
Also, ginseng berries have been regarded to be more valuable that ginseng and have been selectively harvested to obtain seeds. Ginseng seeds are harvested once only from 4-year-old ginseng plants during the cultivation of ginseng, and if they are harvested from 3-year, it is difficult to produce good seedlings, because the harvested seeds are too small. If the ginseng seeds are collected from 5-year old or older ginseng plants, the harvested seeds are full and good, but the development of ginseng roots is inhibited, and in addition, the tissue of the roots is not dense, and thus the quality of red ginseng prepared from the roots can be greatly deteriorated. In addition, if the ginseng seeds are harvested twice or more during ginseng cultivation, yield and red ginseng quality are greatly reduced (Korean Ginseng, “Cultivation”, the Korea Ginseng Research Institute, 130-131, 1996).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,626 discloses a cosmetic composition containing freeze-dried ginseng berry juice and discloses that combinations of ginseng berry juice and other natural materials show the effects of moisturizing and softening the skin. However, the effects disclosed in this patent are clearly distinguished from the skin-aging inhibitory effect and wrinkle-reducing effect of the ginseng berry extract according to the present invention.
Human skin undergoes changes with age due to various intrinsic and extrinsic factors. With respect to the intrinsic factors, the secretion of various hormones regulating metabolism is reduced, and the function of immune cells and the activity of cells are reduced, thus reducing the biosynthesis of immune proteins required in vivo and bioproteins. With respect to the extrinsic factors, as the quantity of UV light that reaches the earth's surface increases due to ozone layer depletion, and environmental pollution becomes more severe, free radicals and reactive oxygen species increase, leading to various changes, including a decrease in skin thickness, an increase in wrinkles, a reduction in elasticity, the change of skin complexion to dark color, the frequent development of skin troubles, and increases in melasma, freckles and age spots.
With the progression of aging, symptoms in which the content and arrangement of skin components, such as collagen, elastin, hyaluronic acid and glycoprotein, change or decrease, occurs, and the skin undergoes oxidative stress by free radical and reactive oxygen species. It is known that, with the progression of aging or by UV light, in most cells constituting the skin, the biosynthesis of cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2), which produces proinflammatory cytokines known to cause inflammation, increases, the biosynthesis of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) increases due to these inflammatory factors, and the production of nitric oxide (NO) by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) increases. That is, the biosynthesis of matrix metalloproteinase is reduced due to a decrease in cell activity, resulting from intrinsic aging, which naturally progresses, and microinflammation, degradation and degeneration are accelerated due to extrinsic factors, such as an increase in stress, resulting from various harmful environments, and an increase in reactive oxygen species, so that the skin matrix is destroyed and becomes thin, while various skin aging symptoms appear. Accordingly, many studies on active ingredients capable of preventing and relieving such aging phenomena have been conducted.
Various factors are involved in determining the human skin colors, and among them, the activity of melanocytes producing melanin pigments, the distribution of blood vessels, the thickness of the skin, and the presence or absence of pigments such as carotenoid and bilirubin in the human body, are important.
Among them, the most important factor is the black pigment melanin which is produced by the action of various enzymes such as tyrosinase in melanocytes in the human body. The production of the melanin pigment is influenced by genetic factors, physiological factors associated with hormone secretion and stress, and environmental factors such as UV radiation.
The melanin pigment, which is produced in melanocytes in the body, is a phenolic polymer in the form of a black pigment/protein composite and has useful functions to protect skin organs under the dermis by blocking UV light radiation from the sun and simultaneously to capture free radicals from the skin, thus protecting proteins and genes in the skin.
Melanin produced in the skin due to intrinsic and extrinsic stresses as described above is a stable material, which does not appear before it is discharged to the outside through skin keratinization, even when the stresses disappear. However, if melanin is produced larger than required, hyperpigmentations such as freckles and spots are induced, leading to unfavorable results in beautiful terms.
These days, women in oriental countries prefer a white and clean skin like a white gem and consider this skin as an important beauty standard. For this reason, the demand to solve therapeutic and cosmetic problems for hyperpigmentations has been increased.
To satisfy this demand, ascorbic acid, kojic acid, arbutin, hydroquinone, glutathione, their derivatives, or materials having tyrosinase inhibitory activity, have been used in cosmetics or drugs. However, the use thereof is limited due to the insufficient whitening effect thereof, a problem of skin safety, and problems of formulation and stability, which occur when they are added to cosmetic products.
The most important function of the epidermis, which is the outermost layer of the skin is to protect the skin from various external stimuli (physical and chemical stimuli, such as chemicals, pollutants, dry environments and UV light) and to prevent the excessive loss of water through the skin. This protective function can be maintained only when the stratum corneum (honey layer) consisting of keratinocytes are normally formed. The horny layer, the outermost layer of the epidermis, is formed of keratinocytes and consists of terminally differentiated keratinocytes surrounded by lipid layers (J. Invest. Dermatol., 1983; 80: 44-49). Keratinocytes are cells generated as a result of the process in which basal cells that continuously proliferate in the lowest layer of the epidermis move up toward the skin's surface while they undergo a series of structural and functional changes. After a given period, old keratinocytes are shed from the skin and replaced by new keratinocytes. This repeated process is called “differentiation of epidermal cells” or “keratinization”. During the keratinization process, keratinocytes form the horny layer, while they produce natural moisturizing factor (NMFs) and intracellular lipids (ceramide, cholesterol and fatty acid), such that the horny layer has firmness and softness to function as a skin barrier.
However, this horny layer can easily lose its functions due to lifestyle factors such as excessive face washing or bathing, environmental factors such as dry atmospheres or pollutants, and intrinsic diseases such as atopic skin or senile skin. In fact, due to various factors which recently increased, persons suffering from dry skin symptoms and various disorders caused thereby gradually increase. Thus, to maintain skin water at a suitable level, many studies focused on supplying external water or preventing the loss of water from the body have been conducted. In fact, various kinds having moisturizers having water retention capability have been developed and mainly used in the cosmetic field.
However, as factors harmful to humans in life environment gradually increase and an aged population rapidly increases, the turnover rate of the horny layer becomes slow, and the lipid synthesis capability of keratinocytes is reduced, or the division, growth and differentiation of cells in the epidermis are not smooth. Thus, humans having skins, in which the amount of moisturizing factors and lipids is reduced such that the function of the horny layer is not maintained (i.e., the skin barrier function is not maintained), gradually increase.
Due to the abnormal division and differentiation of epidermal cells, various skin diseases, including xerosis cutis, atopy and psoriasis, occur. Such diseases can be slightly relieved with conventional moisturizers only having water retention capability, but it is difficult to expect the fundamental cure of the diseases.
In skins including scalps and faces, sebum geneally functions to maintain skin moisturization or to prevent the invasion of microorganisms. However, if sebum is excessively secreted, the falling out of hair is stimulated, acne worsens, the enlargement of follicles is promoted, and seborrhoic dermatitis occurs.
This excessive sebum secretion is caused by various factors, and with respect to the most important factor, sebaceous gland cells are activated by the amount of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is a hormone involved in promoting sebum secretion, thus excessively secreting sebum. That is, in the loss of hair, testosterone (T) is converted into dihydrotestosteron by 5-α-reductase type 2 in cells and, at the same time, binds to a receptor in the cytoplasm and enters the nuclei, thus causing the loss of hair. However, in the skin or sebaceous gland, testosterone is converted into dihydrotestosteron by 5-α-reductase type 1 to activate sebaceous gland cells and to stimulate the differentiation of the cells, and thus serum in the sebaceous gland is excessively secreted, thus causing acne (J. Invest Dermatol 105:209-214 Diane etc).
In addition to the simple excessive secretion of sebum, skin troubles such as acne and hair loss worsen by fine inflammatory reactions on the skin. In the process of development of acne, excessive sebum is accumulated in hair follicles to activate Propionibacterium acnes and to cause inflammation.
Because the ginseng berry extract according to the present invention has anti-inflammatory effects together with excellent antioxidant effects, it inhibits the production of prostaglandins, particularly prostaglandin (PGE2), in cellular inflammatory reactions, and inhibits the production of the proinflammatory factor NO (nitric oxide) by iNOS, thus relieving skin troubles, such as acne, resulting from the excessive secretion of sebum.
However, such natural materials, which are safe for the skin, fundamentally reduce the secretion of sebum and, at the same time, relieve inflammatory action, are not abundant.
Meanwhile, obesity refers to a condition in which energy intake and consumption are kept in balance due to genetic factors or lifestyle factors, and excess energy is accumulated as fat to cause abnormally increase body fat and to cause abnormal metabolism. Obesity is a serious health problem not only in Western Europe, in which meat is the principle food, but also in Korea, and it handicaps individuals in social or mental terms and, in addition, acts as a major factor of increasing the risk of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, diabetics and the like. It is known that 30-40% of modern persons have obesity, and in advanced countries, 2-7% of total health expenditures are attributable to overweight and obesity. In Korea, the socioeconomic cost of obesity inside and outside the health care system was about 1,001,700,000,000 Won (Korean currency) in the year 1998 and increased to about 1,800,000,000,000 Won (Korean currency). If the current rate of increase in obesity is maintained, the socioeconomic cost of obesity is expected to increase continuously.
According to data from the 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey, the prevalence of obesity (more than 20 years old) was 31.8% in total, 35.2% in men and 28.3% in women. It increased compared to data in the years 1998 and 2001, and it is considered that this increase is mainly attributable to the westernization of eating habits (the ratio of fatty energy accounts for more than 20%), an increase in alcoholic consumption, a change in lifestyle, such as the skipping of breakfast, etc. (Korea Food and Drug Administration, 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey, Nutrition Survey, “What, how much and how Korean eat their food?”).
Various methods for treating and preventing obesity have been actively studied in various countries and include diet therapies of reducing energy consumption by inhibiting food intake ((dietary restriction therapy, low-energy diet therapy, very low-energy diet therapy, and fasting therapy), exercise therapy of consuming energy through exercise, psychotherapies (Behavior Modification Therapy and cognitive-behavior therapy), drug therapies which use a energy metabolism promoter, an appetite suppressant, a digestion and absorption suppressant and the like, and surgical therapies such as the partial excision of organs or liposuction. Among them, the diet therapy and exercise therapy are fundamental methods for the treatment of obesity. Also, in the diet therapy of obesity, it is considered preferable that low-energy diet be used, protein requirement be ensured, lipids be minimized, and the remainder be carbohydrate, and preferably low-GI carbohydrate.
The frequency of prior patent applications relating to obesity is in the order of inventions for inhibiting the absorption of saccharides (regulation of digestion), inventions for regulating the metabolism of body fat accumulated in the body (inhibition of body fat), inventions for inhibiting the absorption of fat, and inventions for controlling appetite. Among them, an example of the invention for inhibiting the absorption of saccharides (regulation of digestion) is PCT International Application No. PCT/US01/31860, entitled “GINSENG BERRY EXTRACTS AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITIONS FROM GINSENG BERRY FOR THE TREATMENT OF TYPE 2 DIABETES AND OBESITY”. However, the method for inhibiting the absorption of saccharides has a problem in that, it is discontinued, the yo-yo phenomenon that body weight increases again occurs. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop a method for promoting a reduction in body weight.
Accordingly, in view of various diseases resulting from obesity, it is evident that a decrease in fat body is more important than a simple decrease in body weight. When it is considered preferable to find a method capable of reducing the accumulation of ingested fat and activating fat oxidation, the investigation of a method capable of increasing the beta-oxidation of fatty acid can be an excellent target for the treatment of obesity. Particularly, the metabolism of fatty acid can be promoted by regulating the expression of CPT-1, which is a major enzyme determining the beta-oxidation rate of fatty acid (McCarty, Medical Hypotheses 57(3): 324-336, 2001).
Thus, there has been a need to develop a novel neutral material, which has an excellent effect of reducing body fat and is also effective in reducing body weight.